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AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE NATIONAL DEFENSE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PENALIZING CERTAIN VIOLATIONS THEREOF, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippines:

TITLE I
NATIONAL DEFENSE

PRELIMINARY ARTICLE
TITLE of Act

Section 1. This Act shall be known as “The National Defense Act.”

ARTICLE I
NATIONAL DEFENSE POLICY

Section 2. The national defense policy of the Philippines shall be as follows:

(a) The preservation of the State is the obligation of every citizen. The security of the Philippines and the freedom, independence, and perpetual neutrality of the Philippine Republic shall be guaranteed by the employment of all citizens, without distinction of age or sex, and all resources.

(b) The employment of the nation’s citizens and resources for national defense shall be effected by a national mobilization.

(c) The national mobilization shall include the execution of all measures necessary to pass from a peace to a war footing.

(d) The civil authority shall always be supreme. The President of the Philippines as the Commander-in-Chief of all military forces, shall be responsible that mobilization measures are prepared at all times.

(e) A national mobilization shall be ordered in any case of threatened or actual aggression.

(f) The national defense organization shall be adapted as closely as possible to the territorial and administrative organization of the Philippines.

(g) The mobilization plans of financial, industrial, economic, social, intellectual, and moral forces and resources of the Philippines shall conform to the provisions of the Constitution of the Philippines and shall be prepared by the executive departments concerned in accordance with the following general policies: (1) The respective responsibilities of the several executive departments in mobilization planning will be prescribed by the President; (2) forces and resources shall be employed so as to secure unity and continuity of effort until the threatened or actual aggression to the Philippines has been overcome.

(h) No profit incident to war shall accrue to any individual, corporation association or partnership.

ARTICLE II
EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS AND RESOURCES

Section 3. Military service shall be obligatory for all citizens of the Philippines, and the methods and procedure for the classification, selection, examination, induction, training, and release of all citizens from their military obligations shall be as prescribed in Title III of this Act.

Section 4. The registration of citizens for military service shall be a civil function carried out by the civil authorities under the supervision of the Chief of Staff.

Section 5. During a national mobilization the Government of the Philippines, acting through the appropriate governmental department, or by delegated authority, shall have the right to secure by mutual agreement or by requisition all such resources, tangible and intangible, and all such services and all other assets or possessions, public or private, as may be necessary for national defense.

ARTICLE III
THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE

Section 6. There shall be a Council of National Defense which shall consist of the President, the Vice President, the head of each executive department, the Chief of Staff, and six other members to be designated by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, and a permanent secretary of the Council who shall be an officer of the Army. The Council shall advise with the President on all matters of national defense policy. It shall have a permanent staff which shall preserve a documentary record of the Council’s deliberations.

Section 7. The President of the Philippines shall be Chairman of the Council of National Defense.

Section 8. The method of operation of the Council of National Defense, its detailed duties, and its rights to summon witnesses or consultants shall be fixed in executive orders to be issued by the President. Funds for its operation shall be provided in the appropriations for the Executive Department.

ARTICLE IV
TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

Section 9. For the purpose of recruiting the national manpower, providing preparatory military training, executing the national mobilization plans, and supplying the needs of the armed forces in peace and war, the Philippines shall be divided into military districts as the President may direct.

Section 10. In every military district a commissioned officer of the regular army shall be assigned as District Commander. He shall be provided with such assistants as the Chief of Staff may direct.

In time of peace, he shall be responsible, under the Chief of Staff, for the training, discipline, and tactical training of all units within his district, and for the preparation of defense plans; and in time of war, he shall be responsible, under the control of the Chief of Staff, for the defense of his district.

Section 11. In every province, The provincial governor shall execute all recruitment laws and the laws and regulations governing the mobilization of persons and resources for national defense, which the Central General Staff of the Philippine Army may prescribe from time to time. The Provincial Inspector of the Philippine Constabulary shall be a member of his staff to carry out this duty.

Section 12. Recruiting areas will as far as possible conform with political subdivisions of the Philippines.

ARTICLE VII
MOBILIZATION CENTERS

Section 13. Mobilization centers shall be located in municipalities, townships and municipal districts according to their military population and the percentage of such population assigned to units of the reserve.

The Chief of Staff shall determine the location and type of mobilization centers to be provided, and the District Commander9 shall be responsible for the operation of these mobilization centers at all times.

ARTICLE VI
NATIONAL AND PARTIAL MOBILIZATION

Section 14. A National Mobilization shall be decreed by the President of the Philippines on approval of the National Assembly.

Section 15. Whenever the safety of the Philippines is endangered, the President may decree a Partial Mobilization. He shall promptly summon and report to the National Assembly the cause for, and extent of, the Partial Mobilization. The National Assembly shall determine whether or not the Partial Mobilization so decreed shall be annulled.

ARTICLE VII
Technical Advisers

Section 16. The President of the Philippines shall have authority to appoint and maintain such technical advisers from the Army of the United States and for such period of time as he may deem necessary, which shall in no case extend beyond his term of office.

TITLE II
MILITARY ORGANIZATION

ARTICLE I
COMPOSITION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY

Section 17. The Army of the Philippines shall consist of the Regular Force and the Reserve Force: Provided, That, members of the Reserve Force on inactive status shall not, by reason solely of their appointments, oaths, commissions, or status as such, be held or deemed to be officers or employees in the Philippine Civil Service.

Section 18. The organized peace establishment, including the Regular Force and the Reserves, shall comprise all organizations necessary to form the basis for a complete and prompt mobilization for the national defense. The Army shall at all times be organized in so far as practicable into battalions, regiments, divisions, and, if necessary, higher units.

ARTICLE II
THE REGULAR FORCE

Section 19. Each young man who shall undergo training and service shall, for the duration of his training and service, receive a monthly base pay of not less than ten pesos for the first ten months, and an additional five pesos per month for service longer than ten months, in addition to meals and barracks accommodation, medical and dental attendance, clothing and transportation: Provided, That under such regulations as the Secretary of National Defense may prescribe, each such person shall receive allowance the value of which shall not be less than seventy-five pesos: Provided, further, That each such person who, upon completion of training, when assigned for service with a unit or units of the Regular Force on actual combat operations shall receive pay and allowances at the same rates prescribed for enlisted men of the Regular Force. For those who are not on actual combat operations but are assigned for service with any unit of the Regular Force, the Secretary of national Defense may under such regulations as he may prescribe, allow the payment of pay and allowances higher than those prescribed herein: And provided, finally, That each such person who, upon completion of training, when assigned for service overseas with a unit or units of the Regular Force shall be entitled to the same rules of pay and allowances prescribed for enlisted men of the Regular Force for overseas duty.

Section 20. Officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force shall be assigned to the various branches, corps and services as the President may direct.

All officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force who are not assigned to duty with any branch, corps or service herein provided for shall be carried on the detached officers’ list and detached enlisted men’s list, respectively.

Section 21. The organization of the Regular Force shall be as follows:

(a) All other regular units shall be organized as the President may direct.

(b) The President may attach to regular units or may assign to duty with any component of the Regular Force such number of reserve officers as he may deem necessary. All periods of such duty as do not exceed thirty days annually shall be considered as regular annual training; all periods in excess of thirty days annually shall be classed as extended tours of active duty.

(c) The President may likewise attach for their prescribed period of military training such number of trainees to regular units as he deems necessary.18

Section 22. The appointment, promotion, and discharge of officers in the Army shall be as follows:

(a) All commissioned officers in the Army shall be citizens of the Philippines; Provided, That the President may in his discretion retain in the Army any officer now holding a commission in the Philippine Constabulary. Commissioned grades authorized in the Army of the Philippines shall include third lieutenant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and general officer: Provided, That the general officer grade may be further subdivided into grades as prescribed by the President: And provided, also, That individuals permanently commissioned in a grade above that of colonel shall be known as General Officers of the Line; those not so commissioned but holding an office in the Army to which the grade of general officer is attached shall be known as General officers of the Staff.

(b) Officers shall be commissioned in the Army of the Philippines subject to such examinations for the determination of fitness and proficiency as the President may prescribe. All appointments and promotions shall be made by the President, but the appointments and promotions in the Army from the rank of colonel shall be made with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly.

(e) In determining the relative standing and precedence in seniority between officers of the regular force and officers of the reserve force of the armed Forces of the Philippines of the same permanent grade, the officers with the longer active commissioned service in that permanent grade shall be the senior, and in cases of the same active commissioned service in permanent grade, the officer with the longer accumulated active commissioned service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be the senior, and in cases not covered by the foregoing, the Secretary of National Defense shall determine the relative seniority of officers concerned.

(f) Promotion of regular and reserve officers shall be accomplished under such policies and procedure as the President may direct, provided that in time of peace no reserve officer may be promoted to any grade until he has served at least two years in the next lower grade.

Any reserve officer may, in the discretion of the President, be discharged at any time.

(h) In time of war any officer of the Regular Force may be appointed to higher temporary rank without vacating his permanent commission, such appointments in grades below that of colonel being made by the President alone, but all other appointments in time of war shall be in the Reserve force.

(i) Upon his own application and with the approval of the Chief of Staff, any officer may be transferred at any time to a branch or service other than his own without loss of rank: Provided, That no transfers to or from the Judge Advocate General’s Service, The Chaplain Service or the Medical Service shall be permitted. Transfers in time of war shall be made as prescribed by the Chief of Staff.

(j) With the approval of the American Government, not to exceed one-h of one per cent of the commissioned officers of the Regular Force below the grade of lieutenant colonel may be detailed to duty at foreign military schools.

While on such duty, officers so detailed shall receive the pay and allowances of commissioned officers of their own grade in the army of the country in which the military school is located: Provided, That such pay is equal to or higher than that received by the officer so detailed.

(k) Not to exceed one-half of one per cent of the commissioned officers of the Regular army in any fiscal year may be detailed as students at such technical, professional, and other educational institutions, or as students, observers, or investigators at such industrial plants, hospitals, and other places, as shall be best suited to enable such officers to acquire a knowledge of or experience in the specialties in which it is deemed necessary that such officers shall perfect themselves: Provided, That no expense shall be incurred by the Philippine Government in addition to the pay allowance of the officers so detailed, except for the cost of tuition at such technical, professional, and other educational institutions.

(l) The President is authorized to detail or assign to duty with units of the Reserve Force such officers of the Regular Force as he deems necessary. Commanders of divisions and larger units of the Reserve Force shall be selected from officers of the Regular Force.

(m) Transfers of reserve officers within their category shall be made under such rules as the President may prescribe.

To the extent provided for from time to time by appropriations for this specific purpose, the President may order reserve officers to active duty at any time and for any period, but, except in time of a national emergency expressly declared by the National Assembly, no reserve officer shall be employed on active duty for more than six months in each five years without his own consent: Provided, however, That reserve officers who undergo extended tours of active duty voluntarily for any length of time and receive full pay and allowances therefor, shall not, by reason solely of such service, be exempt from duty with annual maneuvers or annual active duty training. Any reserve officer who fails or refuses to report for such duty, when so ordered, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Section 23. The General Staff Corps shall consist of the Chief of Staff, the Central General Staff and the General Staff with troops.

(a) The Chief of Staff shall be directly subordinate to the President of the Philippines.

Under the direction of the President of the Philippines, he shall cause to be made, by the Central General staff, the necessary plans for recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, mobilizing, training and demobilizing the Army in peace and in war and for the use of the military forces for national defense. He shall render annually to the President, for transmission to the National Assembly, a full report upon the condition of the Army of the Philippines including statements as to strength, cost, unexpended balances, requirements, and so on.

(b) The Central General Staff shall consist of the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and such other officers of grades not below that of first lieutenant as the President may direct.

It shall be the duty of the Central General Staff to prepare plans for the national defense and for the mobilization of the man-power and material resources of the nation in an emergency, to investigate and report upon all matters affecting the efficiency of the Army and its state of preparation for military operations; to perform such inspections of the Army as may be necessary to insure thoroughness and uniformity in training and compliance with regulations; to perform for the infantry, cavalry, artillery and air units and the Off-shore Patrol such functions as the Chief of Staff may prescribe; and to render professional aid and assistance of the Chief of Staff.

(c) The General Staff with troops shall consist of such number of officers not below the grade of first lieutenant as may be necessary to perform the General Staff duties of the headquarters of divisions and higher units.

It shall be the duty of the General Staff with troops to render professional aid and assistance to the general officers over them; to act as their agents in harmonizing the plans, duties and operations of the various organizations and services under their jurisdiction, in preparing detailed instructions for the execution of the plans of the commanding generals and in supervising the execution of such instructions.

Section 25. The Services shall consist of the following: (a) The Adjutant General’s Service, the Judge Advocate General’s Service, the Inspector General’s Service, The Quartermaster Service, The Finance Service, the Medical Service, the Ordinance Service and the Chaplain Service. Each service shall consist of a Chief of Service and such assistants as the President may direct. The head of each service shall be responsible, under the supervision of the Chief of Staff, for the efficient performance of duties herein assigned to his service, and for the execution of all instructions and orders issued him by the Chief of Staff.

(b) The Adjutant General’s Service shall be charged, under such regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, with the operating functions of procurement, assignments, promotion, transfer, retirement, and discharge of all officers and enlisted men of the Regular and Reserve Forces.

(c) The Judge Advocate General’s Service shall render such legal assistance as may be required by the military forces.

(d) The Inspector General’s Service shall be charged under such regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, with the making of such inspections, investigations and reports as may be prescribed in regulations or directed by the Chief of Staff.

(e) The Quartermaster Service shall be charged with the purchase, procurement, storage, and issue for the Army, of all supplies, except those whose procurement is assigned to other services; with the acquisition of real estate and the issue of license in connection with government military reservations; with the transportation of the Army by land and water, and with such other duties as may be required by law or directed by the Chief of Staff: Provided, That such commissioned technical assistants from other branches or services as may be required shall be detailed to the Quartermaster Service for a period of not to exceed three years.

(f) The Finance Service shall be charged with the disbursement of all funds for the national defense, the accounting of the same, and with such other fiscal duties as may be required by law or directed by the Chief of Staff: Provided, That under such regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, officers of the Finance Service, accountable for government moneys, may entrust such moneys to other officers for the purpose of having them make disbursements as their agents, and the agent officer as well as the officer who entrusts the money to him shall be bonded and shall be held pecuniarily responsible to the Government of the Philippines.

(g) The Medical Service shall consist of the Medical Corps, the Dental Corps, the Veterinary Corps, the Nurse Corps, the Medical Administrative Corps and such other corps as may be created by the President. It shall be charged with all matters pertaining to the physical examination, health and sanitation of personnel and animals of the army. The same pay, allowances, rights and privileges shall be granted to the members of the Nurse Corps as are given to the members of the other corps in the Medical Service.

(h) The Ordnance Service, the Medical Service, the Air Corps, the Corps of Engineers, the Signal Corps, the Off-shore Patrol, and the Chemical Corps shall be charged with the purchase, procurement, storage and issue of such special equipment, materials and supplies as apply to their respective services.

These several arms and services are charged with the study, experiment and development of all special materials and equipment pertaining to them.

(i) The Chaplain Service shall have charge of the religious welfare of the Army.

ARTICLE III
ENLISTMENT AND REENLISTMENT

Section 27. Any male citizen of the Philippines between eighteen and thirty years of age, able bodied, free from disease, of good moral character and habits, of average intelligence, and possessed of such educational attainments as may be prescribed, may be enlisted in the Regular Force under the following restrictions:

(a) Enlistments shall be for a term of three years, and may be made by the recruiting officers at stations of the Regular Force: Provided, That all enlistments in force at the outbreak of the war, or other grave national emergency, or entered into during its continuation shall continue in force until six months after its termination unless sooner terminated by the President.

(b) Unmarried minors between eighteen and twenty-one years of age may be enlisted only on the written and duly attested consent of the father, the mother when she is the only surviving parent, or the publicly known guardian.

(c) Enlistments for service in any province, except for the Regular Division, the Artillery Corps, and Air Corps, shall be from among residents thereof. In so far as practicable, enlistments in those forces shall be apportioned among the various provinces of the Philippines. Any former soldier in the Philippine Army, the Philippine Constabulary, or the United States Army or Navy, of good character and faithful service, may be enlisted in the regular force: Provided, That he is physically qualified and that the difference between his age and his years of actual service shall not exceed thirty years.

Section 28. Regulations applying to the reenlistment and to the retirement privileges of noncommissioned officers of the Regular Force shall be prescribed by the President.

Section 29. Henceforth, enlisted men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Filipinos commissioned or enlisted in the Armed Forces of the United States who retained or reacquired their Philippine citizenship except those discharged for physical disability, who shall have served at least three years and honorably discharged therefrom shall be incorporated in the Reserve Force in the grade in which discharged, and assigned to an organization thereof, subject to annual active duty training in the same manner as any other reservist: Provided, That any other honorably discharged personnel of the United States Armed Forces not otherwise disqualified may be mustered in the Reserve Force: And provided, further, That nothing in this provision shall prevent the dropping from the rolls of the Reserve Force of the name of any person who shall subsequently become not qualified as a reservist.

ARTICLE IV
MILITARY ACADEMY

Section 30. There shall be established a military training school to be named the Philippine Military Academy, for the training of selected candidates for permanent commission in the Regular Force. The student body in the Military Academy shall be known as the Cadet Corps of the Army of the Philippines.

Section 31. The President is authorized to appoint to the Military Academy annually, subject to such physical and mental examination as he may prescribe, the number of cadets necessary to maintain the Cadet Corps at a strength of not to exceed three hundred and fifty at any one time. Cadets shall be selected from among candidates as hereinafter provided. Candidates for admission must be single and must never have been married, in good physical condition, not less than seventeen nor more than twenty-two years of age on the first of April of the year of admission, and shall be nominated by the members of Congress,52 except as hereinafter provided, each of whom may nominate any number of candidates. The President shall appoint from among those who pass the physical and mental examinations with the highest ratings, the number or numbers necessary to fill the existing vacancies: Provided, That a quota of three members of the Cadet Corps, hereinafter referred to as Congressional53 quota shall be alloted to each Congressional District: Provided, further, That in case no candidates from a given Congressional54 District attain the required minimum ratings, the vacancies in the Congressional55 quota shall be filled by the President from successful candidates at large with the highest ratings: Provided, the President directly, without Congressional nomination: Provided, still further, That a quota of eight members of the Cadet Corps shall be filled by the President directly, without Congressional nomination, from qualified candidates with the highest ratings who are enlisted men of the Regular Force and who have completed at least one year of active military service and are in active status at the time of admission: Provided, still further, That a quota of four members of the Cadet Corps shall be filled by the President directly, without Congressonal58 nomination, from qualified candidates with the highest ratings who are sons of enlisted men who are serving or who have honorably served for a period of at least six months in the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Philippines or of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, of duly recognized guerrilla units or of the United States Armed Forces prior to July fourth, nineteen hundred and forty-six: Provided, still further, That physically qualified sons of military personnel who have been cited for and awarded the medal for valor may be appointed as cadets by the President directly, without Congressional59 nomination, and mental examination, on the condition that the number of such cadets shall not be included in the Cadet Corps strength of three hundred and fifty as herein provided: And provided, finally, That a quota of one foreign cadet per class may be alloted to each foreign country maintaining diplomatic relations with the Republic of the Philippines on the condition that the pay and allowances, per diems and traveling expenses of such cadet be borne by his country. Foreign cadets shall pass a qualifying mental examination and the number thereof authorized to train at the Military Academy shall not be included in the Cadet Corps strength of three hundred and fifty as herein provided.

The pay and allowances of students at the Military Academy shall be fixed by the President.

Any student, except foreign cadets, who shall, after entrance to the Academy and before completion of the prescribed course of training, be found to be physically unfit for military duty by reason of injury or disease incident to the service, shall be retired with the rank of cadet and shall be entitled to the retired pay and allowances of second lieutenant of the Regular Force.

Upon satisfactory completion of the course of instruction at the Military Academy candidates, except foreign cadets, shall be commissioned second lieutenants in the Regular Forces notwithstanding the age limits for appointment in the regular force prescribed in section four (b) of Republic Act Numbered Two hundred ninety-one, with relative rank in order of final general standing as determined by the Academic Board, and approved by the Chief of Staff: Provided, That any cadet who is discharged from the Academy prior to the completion of the prescribed course of instruction shall not be commissioned in the Regular or Reserve Forces until after the members of his class have been graduated from the Military Academy and duly commissioned: Provided, further, That any cadet dismissed from the Academy for hazing shall not thereafter be eligible for appointment as commissioned officer in the Regular or Reserve Forces.

The Academic Board of the Philippine Military Academy shall be composed of the Superintendent, the Dean of the Corps of Professors, the Commandant of Cadets, and the heads of the departments and shall have the power to confer the degree of bachelor of science under such rules and regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, upon all cadets who may hereafter satisfactorily complete the approved course of studies.

The Chief of Staff shall have authority to grant graduation leaves of absence with full pay to all graduates of the Military Academy, who receive commissions in the Regular Force, for a period not exceeding one month effective upon the date of graduation. Cadets may be granted leaves of absences from the Military Academy under such rules and regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe.

Academic leaves of absences without deduction from pay and allowances may be authorized for the Superintendent, professors, assistant professors, instructors and other officers of the Military Academy for the entire period of the suspension of the ordinary academic studies under such rules and regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe: Provided, That officers of the Reserve Force assigned for duty at the Military Academy shall be entitled to the same leave privileges as are authorized the officers of the Regular Force.

ARTICLE V
THE RESERVE FORCE

Section 32. The Reserve Force shall consist of such number of Infantry Divisions located as the President may direct of such additional sepate regiments, battalions, companies, and similar separate units as the President may authorize; of all reserve classes not assigned to the above units, and of the Reserve elements of the Offshore Patrol.

The organization of reserve land and air units shall, in so far as practicable, be that of corresponding tactical units of the Regular Force.

SEC.33. The Chief of Staff may detail or assign to duty with Reserve units such enlisted men of the Regular Force as he deems necessary.

ARTICLE VI
RESERVE OFFICERS AND NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS

Section 34. Any person who shall have completed his trainee instruction and who is selected for training as a commissioned officer shall pursue a theoretical course of training of not less than six months to be prescribed by the Chief of Staff, upon completion of which he shall be assigned to duty with a Regular unit as prohibitionary third lieutenant63 for another period of six months. At the end of this service those who have displayed qualities of leadership and who have demonstrated their fitness to command may be appointed and commissioned third lieutenants64 of the Reserve Force and assigned to an organization thereof. Those who fail to complete the course of training shall be transferred to the Reserve Force as enlisted men and shall be assigned to an organization thereof.

Section 35. At such colleges and universities as the President may designate there shall be established and maintained Reserve Officers’ Training Units of such arms and services as he shall specify, where every physically fit student shall be required to pursue a course of military instruction designed to qualify him for a commission as a third lieutenant of the Reserve. In so far as may be practicable, the student shall be permitted to choose the arm or service in which he wishes to train. This course of military instruction, if pursued to completion, shall exempt students from trainee instruction. It shall not exempt them from registration.

Section 36. The Chief of Staff shall, by mutual agreement with the head of the institution, designate the senior military instructor and such commissioned and enlisted personnel as may be necessary for each institution. He is authorized to issue to such institutions the arms, equipment and other property which he deems essential to the conduct of this instruction.

Section 37. Each year the senior military instructor shall submit to the Chef of Staff the names of those members of the graduating class whom he recommends for further training. These graduates may be ordered to organizations of the Regular Force for a six months’ probationary period. At the end of this service those who have displayed their fitness for Commission may be appointed and commissioned third lieutenants of the Reserves and assigned to an organization thereof.

Section 38. Graduates who are not recommended for training as third lieutenants69 and those who fail to qualify for appointment as such shall be assigned to the nearest age group in the Reserve and assigned to an organization thereof as private or noncommissioned officers as recommended. Students of military age who do not complete their courses of study at an institution of learning provided with a Reserve Officers’ Training Unit shall be liable for trainee instruction immediately upon severing their connection with the institution. If more than 20 years of age, they shall be assigned to the trainee class next to be called.

Section 39. The President shall appoint and commission, upon the recommendation of the Chief of Staff, such reserve officers as shall in his opinion be needed. If deemed necessary, candidates may be required to undergo training as probationary third lieutenants, before being appointed and commissioned in the reserves.

Section 40. In so far as may be practicable, original appointments by the President in grades above third lieutenant shall be made from among those formerly holding Reserve Commissions in the United States Army, from among former officers of the Philippine Scouts and Constabulary, from among former officers of the National Guard and from such others who possess exceptional ability or special training and skill.

Section 41. Noncommissioned officers of the Regular Force between the ages of twenty-one and thirty years who are recommended for appointment as third lieutenants shall pursue the course of instruction of six months prescribed for those who have completed their trainee instruction, and who are recommended for training to qualify as reserve officers. Upon satisfactory completion of this course they may be appointed and commissioned third lieutenants of the Reserves and assigned to an organization of the Reserve Force. Except upon mobilization, no service as a reserve officer may be performed by an enlisted man of the Regular Force.

Section 42. Medical reserve officers shall be procured from graduates of medical colleges and universities under such regulations as may be prescribed by the President.

Section 43. Reserve officers shall be physically examined upon each assignment to active duty. Any reserve officer found physically unfit for active field service shall be discharged.

Section 44. Young men who complete their trainee instruction and are selected for additional training to qualify them as noncommissioned officers of the Reserve Force shall pursue a prescribed course of three months. Upon satisfactory completion thereof they shall be warranted in the transferred to the Reserve Force and assigned to an organization thereof.

Section 45. noncommissioned officer grade for which they shall have qualified, and then The Chief of Staff shall be empowered to organize and establish such special and advanced school units as he may deem proper for the special training of officers of the technical and supply sections and services, and for the advanced training of selected officers for field, staff, and command duties.

Section 46. All candidates for appointment as reserve officers, except medical officers, shall be required to qualify for appointment as third lieutenants80 of the line before being permitted to pursue any special course pertaining to the technical and supply services.

ARTICLE VII
ACTIVE DUTY TRAINING OF RESERVISTS

Section 47. Periods of active duty training in the Reserve Force shall be as prescribed by the Chief of Staff. In so far as may be practicable, the active duty periods for the three echelons shall be as follows: First Reserves, annually, not less than ten days; Second Reserves, annually, not less than five days; and Third Reserves, every third year, not less than seven days.

During such periods of active duty training the reservist shall be amenable to the laws and regulations prescribed for the Regular Force. Except with his own consent, no enlisted reservist may be required in time of peace to serve more than thirty days on active duty in any calendar year.

Section 48. Any reservist who fails to report for active duty training as directed by the Chief of Staff shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Section 49. Any employee of the Government called for trainee instruction, or for regular annual active duty training, or for extended tour of active duty, shall not lose his position or suffer a loss of pay due to his absence in the fulfillment of his military obligations. A reserve officer on extended tour of active duty, regardless of the amount of his compensation in the civil position, shall be entitled to quarters or rental allowance as may be prescribed for his grade by Army regulations.

Section 50. Mobilization centers shall be constituted as follows:

(a) Mobilization centers shall be established for the purpose of providing storage for the arms, equipment, clothing, and records of units, other than those of the Regular Force, to be mobilized in a national emergency, of making provision in advance of mobilization for the necessary shelter for men and animals of such units during mobilization, and of reducing to a minimum the period necessary for mobilization.

(b) One mobilization center shall be established for each battalion or similar unit or, when for the best interests of the Philippines, for regiments or larger units.85

TITLE III
MILITARY SERVICE

ARTICLE I
OBLIGATION TO SERVE AND LENGTH OF SERVICE

Section 51. All Filipinos are liable to military service.

Section 52. The obligation to undergo military training shall begin with youth in school, commencing at the age of ten years, and shall extend through his schooling until he shall reach the age of twenty-one years when he shall become subject to service with the colors. If at eighteen to twenty-one years of age the youth is not attending any school or college he shall enter the Junior Reserve subject to the exemptions prescribed in section eighty-seven of this Act. The training which he may undergo prior to the calendar year in which he attains twenty-one years of age shall be termed “Preparatory Military Training.”

All school girls shall receive such instruction and training as the Chief of Staff may deem necessary for auxiliary service.

All able-bodied male citizens between the ages of twenty years and fifty-one years, both inclusive, except those specifically exempted, shall be classified as follows:

Trainees.- Those between the ages of twenty and twenty-one years who have been selected to receive military training.

First Reserve. – Those between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-one years both inclusive, and including also all those who have completed trainee instruction or its equivalent even though they may not have attained the age of twenty-two.

Second Reserve. – Those between the ages of thirty-two years and forty-one years, both inclusive.

Third Reserve. – Those between the ages of forty-two years and fifty-one years, both inclusive.

Section 53. Young men shall be required to register for military training and service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Air Force, Philippine navy, and separate Armed Forces of the Philippines units-in the calendar year in which they will attain twenty years of age. The period of such training and service shall be for eighteen consecutive months. Each such person shall receive military training for a period of at least six months. After such training, he may be assigned for duty and service with elements of the Regular Force.

ARTICLE II
PROCUREMENT OF TRAINEES

Section 54. On January first, 1936, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, the President shall issue a proclamation calling upon all young men, citizens of the Philippines, who shall attain the age of twenty years in that calendar year, to register for military instruction. Registration shall take place in suitable registration places to be prescribed by the city, municipality, or municipal district government in which they reside, between the dates of April first and seventh. Annual registration shall be held during the same period in succeeding years.

Section 55. The President shall provide by proclamation all necessary rules and regulations for the method and procedure of registration and the selection of trainees for military service.

Section 56. On May fifteenth of each year, the Chief of Staff shall conduct a drawing which shall determine those registrants who are to be called for trainee instruction in the next calendar year He shall cause immediate and thorough publication to be given of the names of those who shall have been drawn. Provincial Governors shall be responsible that each young man in their province who shall have been drawn is notified at once of this fact.88

Section 57. No person convicted of a crime against the Government or of an offense involving moral turpitude shall be permitted to register for military service unless he shall have been previously pardoned by the President.

Section 58. The following persons are exempt from registration:

(a) Members of the Philippine Scouts and the Philippine Army.

(b) Young men, citizens of the Philippines who are residing abroad. These persons shall register within five days after their return to the Philippines in order to determine their obligation for military training.

If under thirty years of age on their return, they shall be liable for military service, and shall enter thereon if drawn at the next national drawing for military service following their return.

(c) Persons who, because of incarceration awaiting trial or undergoing sentece of a court of law, are prevented from registering. They shall upon their release from custody register for military trainee instruction with the president of the municipality or township in which they reside. If under thirty years of age at the time of release, they shall be liable for trainee instruction; if over that age, they shall not be required to serve with the colors.

Section 59. The following registrants are exempted from trainee instruction:

(a) Ecclesiastic regularly ordained and serving as a member of the clergy and seminary students of a recognized church or sect.

(d) The personnel of the coast guard revenue cutter and lighthouse inspection services.

(e) Pilots, navigators and marine superintendents.

(f) Filipino citizens who are civil service eligibles and who are employed regularly by the United States Government: Provided, That those of trainee age who have been drafted for military instruction, upon cessation of their employment in the United States Government, shall enter upon such instruction should they be below thirty years of age.

Section 60. (repealed)

ARTICLE III
EXAMINATION, CLASSIFICATION, DEFERMENTS

Section 61. Acceptance Board shall be appointed by the Secretary of National Defense for a term of three years. Boards shall be appointed for such municipalities and municipal districts as the population may require. The Secretary of National Defense shall determine the number and location of Boards required for the administration of this law. They shall consist of five regular members and two or more alternates. Two regular members shall be physicians and where practicable two shall be officers of the Philippine Army stationed in the province. The Secretary of National Defense shall designate the Chairman of the Board. The alternates shall serve and attend the meetings of the Board, in the event of the absence, sickness or other inability of the regular members, upon call of the Chairman of the Board.

Section 62. The medical members shall advise the board in cases where the young man’s physical condition for military service is in question. Decision by the board as to action on such cases and upon all other matters shall be by majority vote.

Section 63. Young men who have been called for trainee instruction, upon reporting to the Acceptance Boards, shall be required to complete a questionnaire of a prescribed form, and to undergo a physical examination. The board shall then classify the young men into the following classes:

(a) Class I-Fit for unlimited service.

(b) Class II-Fit for limited service only.

(c) Class III-Deferred until a later date.

(d) Class IV-Exempted for physical reasons.

Section 64. The following, during the period of their employment or functions, may have their trainee instruction96 deferred for not to exceed three years:

(a) Such officers and employees of the insular, provincial, municipal, and municipal district governments, as the President may designate in executive orders.

(b) Officials and agents of organized police forces.

(c) Officials of land, air, and marine transport.

The persons above mentioned shall be exempted from all military service except trainee instruction98 and except for active service in a national emergency, expressly declared by the National Assembly when they shall be liable for military service or special assignment as directed by the President.

Section 65. Deferments may likewise be granted by the Acceptance Boards for those who are indispensable to the support of their dependent families, for agricultural reasons, and for certain key men in industry, commerce or agriculture; provided that such deferments shall not exceed one year, after which they shall be liable to such training99 in the same manner as that prescribed for any other citizen.

Section 66. Deferments for any cause whatsoever shall be made only upon presentation to the Acceptance Boards of supporting evidence either by testimony of witnesses or by documentary evidence or both.

Section 67. The Acceptance Board shall be responsible for the prompt forwarding of the trainee’s name, together will all documents and records pertaining to him, to his future station.

Section 68. Where the Acceptance Board denies the claim for deferment of any individual, he may, within ten days, appeal his case to the Central Review Board in Manila.

Section 69. Where dependency was the cause for deferment and that condition continues after the termination of the period of deferment, the young man shall be liable to trainee instruction,100 and shall enter upon such instruction. During the period of his absence undergoing instruction, an allowance for the partial support of his dependent or dependents, who have no other means of support, shall be made by the Philippine Government. The corresponding acceptance board shall determine the dependent or dependents entitled to this allowance, which shall be fixed by Executive Order.101

Section 70. The expenses incident to the administration of the Acceptance Boards shall be borne by the Government. Except for governmental officials, the salaries of members of the Board shall not exceed P500 per annum, provided that no governmental official, whose salary is paid from the Philippine Government Treasury, shall receive any additional compensation by reason of service on such Boards.

Section 71. The District Commanders or their duly appointed assistants shall supervise the recruitment of the man-power in their districts. This responsibility shall extend to a supervision of registration and the administration and operation of all Acceptance Board within the territorial limits of their commands. They shall have access at all times to the records pertaining to registration, examination, and classification. They shall report all irregularities coming to their attention to the Chief of Staff.

ARTICLE IV
CENTRAL REVIEW BOARD

Section 72. The Central Review Board shall consist of five citizens appointed by the Secretary of National Defense who shall designate the Chairman of the Board. One member shall be an officer of the Philippine Army, representing the Chief of Staff. Initially, one member shall be appointed for five years, one member for four years, one member for three years, one member for two years, and the remaining year. Thereafter, all appointments shall be for five years. In occurs before the expiration of the term of office of any member, his successor shall serve only the unexpired portion of said term. No member shall be eligible for reappointment. Upon the expiration of the term of office of the Chairman, that office shall devolve upon the member having the longest service on the Board. The Board shall hold its session in the City of Manila.

Section 73. Decision in all matters before the Board shall be by majority vote. The Board shall have authority to employ such staff of assistants and the services of necessary medical examiners as may be authorized by the Secretary of National Defense.

Section 74. All cases of appeal from the decision of the Acceptance Boards which shall be forwarded by the Provincial Governors shall be reviewed by the Central Review Board. The appellant shall be authorized to be represented by legal counsel, and to present such facts and evidence in support of his case as he shall deem advisable. The decision of the Board shall be rendered without unnecessary delay and shall be final.

Section 75. The salaries of the members of the Board shall not exceed three thousand pesos per annum, except that the military member shall receive the pay and allowance of his rank and service. These salaries and those of the assistants and medical examiners as well as all expenses incident to the operation of the Board, shall be borne by the Philippine Government. Officers and employees of the Government serving as members of the Board or as assistants or examiners thereof, if any, shall not receive any additional compensation.

ARTICLE V
INCORPORATION INTO SERVICE

Section 76. Upon reporting at the designated training station the young man shall be examined physically, and, if fit for the service of his classification, he shall be assigned to duty with an organization and sworn in. If the examination discloses any cause for a change in his classification, the change shall be effected by the local Commander immediately and his assignment o training instruction varied accordingly. Where a change of station is necessary to provide the requisite training, the Commanding Officer shall be empowered to issue the necessary orders covering his transportation. Upon joining his organization, he shall be sworn in. In case of physical disability disqualifying him for military service, he shall be returned to his home and prompt report made of such action to the Chief of Staff and to the Mayor of the municipality or municipal district of his residence.

Section 76-A. Any person failing to register for military service herein provided, or who shall fail to report to the corresponding Acceptance Board or to a designated training camp after having been duly notified to do so shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to serve not more than six months in prison or to pay a fine of not to exceed two hundred pesos, or both, at the discretion of the Court. Conviction for this offense shall not exempt the person convicted from the military service herein required.

The municipalities and chartered cities shall be exempt from the payment of all court and sheriff’s fees in the prosecution of cases falling under this section.

ARTICLE VI
TRANSFER TO RESERVE FORCE

Section 77. Upon competition of the prescribed course of trainee instruction108 and, unless the soldier shall enlist in the Regular Force or shall be selected for further training to qualify him as a commissioned or noncommissioned officer, he shall be transferred to the Reserve Force and assigned to an organization thereof by the Adjutant General. From this time his name shall be carried on the rosters of the Reserve force.

Upon transfer to the Reserve Force, such arms, accountrements and clothing as shall be prescribed, shall be transferred to the mobilization center of his organization.

Section 78. On completion of his training instruction the trainee shall pass into the First Reserve where he shall be assigned to an organization. He shall continue to serve in the First Reserve to include the calendar year in which he shall reach thirty-one years of age. On December thirty-first of the year in which he shall become thirty-one years of age, he shall be transferred to the Second Reserve where he shall be assigned to an organization in that echelon. He shall serve in the Second Reserve to include the calendar year in which he shall become forty-one years of age. On December thirty-first of the calendar year in which he shall become forty-one years of age, he shall be transferred to the Third Reserve in which he may be assigned to an organization. He shall serve in this class until he shall be fifty-one years of age.

Section 78-A. It shall be the duty of all reservists, between the ages of twenty-one and fifty-one years, inclusive, whether they belong to the commissioned, enlisted or other relative grades, to register their names with the municipal secretary of the municipality or city of their temporary or permanent residence. For the purpose of this registration, each municipal secretary shall be furnished a registry book by the Chief of Staff. The registry book will contain such data as the Chief of Staff may prescribe: Provided, however, that the duties herein prescribed for municipal secretaries shall be performed by the Chiefs of Police in chartered cities.

Section 79. Enlisted men of the Reserve Force shall report for physical examination as may be required by the Secretary of National Defense.

ARTICLE VII
PREPARATORY MILITARY TRAINING

Section 80. The purpose of preparatory military training shall be as follows: To develop the national spriti; to make the youth physically strong; to make the youth morally confident, and to prepare the youth for military service.

Section 81. Preparatory military training shall begin with the youth in elementary grade school at the age of ten years and shall extend through the remainder of his schooling into college or the university as set forth hereinbefore. In case the youth ceases to attend school, or for any reason shall have no schooling, he shall become liable for service in the Junior Reserve on reaching the age of eighteen years.

Section 82. Preparatory military training is compulsory upon the youth attending school and upon others when they shall become eighteen years of age.

Section 83. The physically unfit shall not be required to undergo military training. Physical fitness shall be determined by a board of medical officers which shall be appointed by the District Commander.

Section 84. The District Commander is charged with the supervision of preparatory military training which shall be divided by age and school classes, as follows:

(c) Junior Reserves; Eighteen to twenty years of age, both inclusive; young men not attending school or college.

Section 85. Instructors for cadets shall be assigned from qualified male teachers in school who are members of the Reserve Force or who have satisfactorily completed any course of military instruction which would qualify a person for a commission in the Armed Forced of the Philippines.

Instructors for the Junior Reserve shall be assigned from the officers and men of the Regular Force or of the Reserve Force.

Qualified instructors in the Preparatory Military Training may be required by the Chief of Staff to undergo annual active duty training for not more than thirty days in any calendar year. While undergoing such training they shall be furnished subsistence, suitable quarters and transportation furnishable to reserve officers on annual active duty training.

Section 86. Courses of instruction shall be prescribed by the Chief of Staff.

Section 87. The following persons are exempted from training in the Junior Reserve: Those who are found physically unfit by a medical board; those who are living abroad; and those undergoing any other form of authorized military instruction.

Section 88. Parents and employers shall be required to compel attendance at preparatory military training. Upon conviction of deliberate failure to discharge this obligation, the responsible parent or employer or both shall be subject to a fine of not to exceed one hundred pesos.

Enrollment in each category of preparatory military training shall be accomplished at such times and under regulations as the Secretary of National Defense may prescribe.122

TITLE IV
GRADES, PAY AND ALLOWANCES

Section 89. (repealed)

Section 90. The annual rates of pay and allowances, to be paid monthly, for officers of the Regular Force, Female Nurses and for reserve officers ordered to extended tours of active duty, except probationary third lieutenants, shall be as may be prescribed by the President in Executive Orders.125 Pending issue of appropriate Executive Orders, the rates of pay and allowances now prescribed for officers of the Constabulary shall apply to the officers designated in this section: Provided, That due to the high mortality rate among flying personnel, officers whose duty requires regular and frequency aerial flights, shall receive an additional compensation equivalent to twenty-five per centum of the monthly pay received by non-flying personnel of the same rank and grade.126

Section 90-A. When an officer of the Regular Force or a Reserve Officer ordered to extended tour of active duty suffers some injury or disease shall not be counted against the annual leave allowance provided in sections five and seven of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred twenty. An injury or disease shall be considered as acquired in line of duty when it is contracted in the service for reasons other than the officer’s own misconduct, willful failure, the intemperature use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or through vicious or immoral habits.127

Section 90-B. in the case of an enlisted man of the Regular Force, an injury or disease shall be considered as contracted in line of duty when it is acquired in the service for reasons other than his own misconduct, willful failure, the intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or through vicious or immoral habits.

Section 91. (repealed)

Section 91-A. (repealed)

Section 92. Individuals undergoing training in the grade of probationary second lieutenant shall receive pay as provided in the preceding section for trainees of more than ten months service, except that they shall receive such allowances in cash or in kind as the Chief of Staff may prescribe.

Section 93. The members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Units shall receive no pay. They shall receive such clothing allowance for uniforms as the Chief of Staff shall direct.

While undergoing instruction as probationary third lieutenants to qualify as Reserve Officers, they shall receive the pay of trainees and the subsistence allowance prescribed for their grade.

Section 94. Reserve Officers and enlisted members of the Reserve Force on annual active duty training shall receive no pay. They shall be furnished subsistence and suitable quarters while engaged on such duty. They shall be furnished transportation or reimbursement therefor, for the travel from their home to the place of active duty and return thereto.

Section 95. Reserve Officers on extended active duty with the Regular Force shall receive pay and allowance, leave with pay, free medical treatment, and other privileges as prescribed by law or regulation for Regular Officers of their respective grades.

Officers of the Army of the United States serving as members of the National Defense Mission may be given during their period of such service, such military offices, rank, command and emoluments as the President of the Philippines may elect. The Commissions conferred upon the officers originally serving as technical advisers shall include one Field Marshall, who shall be known as the Military Adviser.

Section 96. The Junior Cadets, High School Cadets, and Junior Reservists shall receive no pay.

TITLE V
APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

ARTICLE I
METHOD OF APPROPRIATING, EXPANDING, AND ACCOUNTING FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE FUNDS

Section 97. Public funds for the defense of the Philippines shall be appropriated, expended, and accounted for according to six purposes, as follows:

I. Pay and Allowances of Personnel.

II. Maintenance of Personnel.

III. Transportation.

IV. Armament, Equipment, and Supplies.

V. Construction.

VI. Miscellaneous.

Provided, That each purpose shall be divided into items as hereinafter described: Provided, further, That for a period of ten years following the passage of this Act, all funds appropriated for any of the above purposes and remaining unexpended at the end of each fiscal year shall be available in succeeding fiscal years for expenditure under the same purposes only, unless otherwise authorized by the President: Provided, finally, That the President may authorize and direct that purchases of any or all items needed by the Army under any of the above purposes shall be made under the direction of the Chief of Staff without the intervention of the Division of Purchase and Supply of the Department of Finance, any provision of existing law to the contrary nothwithstanding.

PURPOSE I
Personnel

This purpose shall include the following items: Base pay, longevity pay, commutation of quarters, and clothing allowance of officers and enlsited men of the Regular and Reserve and Reserve Forces, the pay and allowance of cadets at the Military Academy, the wages and salaries of civilian employees, agents, and unskilled laborers, the allowances provided by law for persons undergoing trainee instruction, Reserve Officers Training Corps instruction, and Preparatory Military Training and the amount or amounts annually appropriated for the Pension and Retirement Fund of the Army.

PURPOSE II
Maintenance of Personnel

This purpose shall include the following items: Subsistence, sanitation and hospitalization, and quartering of the Regular Force and of the Reserve Force when on active duty, including the lighting, heating, and upkeep of all buildings necessary to the National Defense; the training and education of the Regular and Reserve Forces and of persons undergoing trainee instruction, Reserve Officers Training Corps instruction, and Preparatory Military education for the welfare of the Army, and for burial of members of the Army who die in active service.139

PUROSE III
Transportation

This purpose shall include the following items: The authorized travel expenses as fixed by regulations of the civil and military personnel of the army, the authorized transportation of trainees to and from their homes, the authorized travel expenditure of members of the Reserve Force on active duty or when called for regular annual training, the purchase and maintenance of animal and water transportation, the maintenance and upkeep of motor transportation, and the packing and transportation of all armament, equipment, and supplies.

PURPOSE IV
Armament, Equipment, and Supplies

This purpose shall include the following items: Weapons and their component parts, signal, and engineer equipment and supplies, ammunition, quartermaster, medical and air corps supplies and equipment, the supplies for the maintenance and upkeep of mobilization centers, and all items necessary in the development of the National Defense forces.

PURPOSE V
Construction

This purpose shall include the construction of land and sea-coast defenses, the construction of barracks, quarters, hospitals, depots, arsenals and all other building required for the National Defense, and the acquisition of real estate.

PURPOSE VI
Miscellaneous Expenditures

This purpose shall include the miscellaneous expenditures of the various arms and services of the Military Establishment and of the Central General Staff as determined by the President, and the contingencies of the Army; Provided, That all moneys derived from the sale of products and other activities shall be expended as the Chief of Staff may direct, subject to the approval of the Secretary of National Defense.

Section 98. (repealed)

TITLE VI
FINAL PROVISIONS

Section 99. All laws and parts of laws which are inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed.